ENVIRONMENTAL health officers on the Isle of Wight have moved to ensure batches of contaminated warm-water shrimps and prawns are removed from sale following a health warning from the Food Standards Agency.

The agency was alerted by the European Commission that residues of veterinary medicines called nitrofurans may be present in shrimps and prawns from South-East Asia.

Following tests of 77 samples, the agency found 16 contained evidence of the residues, which may damage genetic material and could be carcinogenic in humans.

Nitrofurans are not allowed to be used in the EC in food-producing animals.

Island council principal environmental health officer Gareth Davies said the batches of prawns thought to be affected had already been withdrawn from the major supermarkets. But some may still be available in smaller outlets and for use in catering establishments, which are now advised to destroy the products or return them to the shop where they were bought.

Mr Davies stressed that the warning only affects warm-water products from South-East Asia, and that shrimp and prawn usually used by sandwich-makers were the cold-water variety and not affected.

Among the affected products are some batches of raw-peeled prawns, raw headless tiger prawns, frozen shrimp, raw fresh water prawns and freshwater king prawns.

The shrimps and prawns already found to contain residues originated in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh. The tested samples were collected from shops in Northern Ireland, but batches have been on sale throughout the UK.